Saturday, August 30, 2008

This past week we were so honored to spend time filming the legendary PBS cooking show host Graham Kerr, known affectionately around the world as The "Galloping Gourmet"

Spry as ever, with as much charm and enthusiasm to light up the evening sky, Graham is an incredible talent!

In this episode of our show, we first meet Graham at a local organic farm called Mother Flight, where we learn from farmer Glen all about what it takes to bring in the seasonal harvests.

Then we head up to Graham's kitchen and whip up a few very healthy and delicious recipes (airing on our new season of shows coming this fall).

Besides being one of the nicest, warmest and most generous of spirits on the planet, Graham Kerr is on a mission...to teach people that there are easier ways to cook, better ways to eat, and healthier ways to live.

Both Graham and his lovely wife (and Emmy Award winning producer) Treena Kerr are on our Organic Living TV advisory board. Graham and Treena provide us with tremendous insight and creativity and are helping to guide our expanding business to reach even more homes with a variety of new programs that highlight and emphasize sustainability!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

For all those of you out there who might have been a little confused on the topic of whether or not consuming healthy and delicious hemp food products could result in a positive drug test, well we're happy to convey some new results:

Our friends at Hemp Industries Association http://www.thehia.org and http://www.VoteHemp.com were kind enough to copy us on the recent findings that ought to once and for all put this misinformation on healthy Hemp to rest.

Simply put: "Journal of Analytical Toxicology (JAT), titled "∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Content of Commercially Available Hemp Products" (2008, Vol. 32, pages 428-432), found that "the amount of THC present in commercially available [hemp] products is significantly less in products available today" and that eating hemp foods "should not be considered as a realistic cause for a positive urine analysis result."

Hemp foods and oils are perfectly balanced for the human body, are a natural source of protein and fiber, are delicious, healthy and above all should not be thought of as a drug in any way, shape or form.

To paraphrase the report, they say that 'to think of Hemp as a drug, is the equivalent of thinking of fruit juices as alcohol, merely because there are molecules of fermentation that are undetectable in the fruit juice.' Imagine being pulled over on the highway after drinking a container of orange juice, you just wouldn't test positive for any alcohol at all. The same goes for Hemp foods, oils and cosmetics, there just isn't a trace of anything psychotropic whatsoever.

The time has come for us to embrace industrial hemp and to see clearly how it will benefit American farmers, workers and families on all ends of the food chain!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

One of the greatest healing spa experiences in the world can be found at Fonteverde Spa Hotel in Tuscany, Italy.In this segment taken from Organic Living TV with the Hippy Gourmet - "great spas of Italy tour" - we are so honored to visit meet Sous Chef Michele D'Apolito, venture out into the organic gardens to pick fresh herbs and then head into the kitchen to prepare a simple and delicious Vegetable Soup with Orso Pasta!

When you check into Fonteverde Spa Hotel, you have an opportunity to consult with the spa doctor who not only assesses your health and spa regimen for your stay, but also the doctor speaks directly to the chef and kitchen, outlining the best types of healthy meals to be custom prepared for your diet.

There is healing magic in the hills of Tuscany! Whether it's the volcanic waters, the spa treatments, the organic locally produced foods, or a combination of all these together, Fonteverde embodies one of the best examples of this gestalt spa/resort experiences!

You can buy a full version of this episode on DVD available on Amazon.com.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Food and Drug Administration has decided that it's now OK to irradiate certain kinds of produce. They claim that it will help prevent outbreaks of e-coli and other food based bacteria, but the result is that all it will do is remove substantial nutrients from our food.

All one needs do is read between the lines of the story to begin to see the all out war against organic, bio-dynamic and raw foods. On one side you have the large corporations pushing pesticides and chemical fertilizers as a way (they believe) to increase yield and feed growing world populations. On the other side you have the small family farms, producing artisan ingredients that are healthy, organic, and full of nutrition that rely on local and regional consumer patronage to survive.

In the middle are the poor, unsuspecting food buyers who may now believe that healthier foods are those devoid of nutrition after being irradiated - when this could not be further from the truth.

We believe food growers and stores have a responsibility to label any and all foods that have been irradiated, to give us a choice over what we buy, cook and serve to our families.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Up in Hopland, California, the Solar Living Institute http://www.solarliving.org throws an incredible event each year that rocks the foundation of true sustainability as we know it!

The Solar Living Institute and the Real Goods Store in Hopland, California are built on top of what used to be a dumping grounds for California Transit (or CalTrans) - amidst the spindles of used cabling and rubble of train ties and the like, the Solar Living Institute came along and created an absolute oasis that is 100% off the grid with solar and wind power!

Imagine a dusty, rural place where there used to be industrial garbage piled high, and then just a few years later there are sustainable buildings built from forced earth and bale hay, wind turbines, solar panels and a large lake filled with fish - then a few years after this the organic gardens flourishing and natural trees and bushes growing up all around...seems like a dream yes? But it's all for real and it's really at the Solar Living Institute!

The SolFest is their annual bash that brings over 20,000 of your closest friends who feel the same way about solar and alternative power that you do! There are innovative companies showing off their wares, great speakers (including the producer and director of Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet, James Ehrlich), and fantastic workshops that give people hands-on experience in learning how they can improve their families lives through the power of the sun and wind.

We've filmed a few episodes and segments from the SolFest, including our now famous Solar Hemp Pizza recipe and our Vegan Solar cookies, amongst other recipes. We also interviewed Jonathan Schaeffer the founder of the Solar Living Institute, and many of the exhibitors who make this event one of the greatest things to look forward to each summer!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

In a strange, but fascinating look into the private and secret lives of one of America's greatest TV chefs, (who was in fact one of the pioneers of TV cooking shows), BBC reports that Julia Child was actually a member of the OSS (the precursor of the CIA).

Back in the days prior to Julia's TV cooking career, apparently she signed up to help battle fascism in WWII by becoming a spy in the U.S. intelligence service.

As odd as it is to imagine the sweet and high pitched Julia Child, flitting about behind enemy lines, tip toeing around trying not to cause one of her souffles to fall, the truth is that she like so many others did their part to help defeat tyranny in the world.

Nowadays when we hear a chef say they came directly from the CIA, we usually think that they mean the Culinary Institute of America - but perhaps we ought to be asking more specific questions?

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

In this insightful article from the Telegraph in the United Kingdom, writer Jeff Randall interviews Prince Charles on the topic of sustainable farming practices. We've known for a long time that the Prince of Whales was a big supporter of family farms and artisan producers of high-quality foods, but we didn't realize the full extent of his passion in supporting bio-diversity and maintaining strict standards on organic, bio-dynamic practices.

"What we should be talking about is food security not food production - that is what matters and that is what people will not understand..." Prince Charles stated in his interview referring to large corporate farming concerns taking over around the world, he continues, "Small farmers, in particular, would be the victims of "gigantic corporations" taking over the mass production of food. "If they think this is the way to go....we [will] end up with millions of small farmers all over the world being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness."

Prince Charles is more than a powerful voice, cutting through the hype and lies of GM (genetically modified) agriculture, speaking the truth the world needs to hear - rather, he is a man of action, pursuing his ideals locally by supporting family farms, fisheries, bakeries and food producers.

By helping to establish the "North Highland Initiative" which as their website states "aims to promote the economic development of the North Highlands of Scotland. One of the aims of the Prince's Initiative is to foster closer connections between farmers, fine food producers, and consumers." Thus the "Mey Selections" brand was born, creating a true value proposition for local producers to band together under this flagship moniker, establishing greater value for their products, reinvigorating the local economy and promoting enthusiastic culinary tourism!

Prince Charles visited Marin, California a couple of years ago and took a tour of local family farms, we unfortunately missed his visit as we were on the road filming episodes of our Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet TV series, but his presence was deeply felt throughout the area, as is his lasting support for the good and positive efforts of those who strive each day to produce healthy, delicious, life-sustaining foods for families around the world.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

We had the absolute honor of spending some time on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, filming organic farms, spending time with the locals and taking in the lush tranquility that the 'Garden Island' is known for (in between all of our running around and filming of course).

Fortunately we were able to meet up with Lopaka Bukoski, who runs cultural tours of Kauai, where Lopaka was able to introduce us to the magical salt ponds that connect generations back to the land. We then head over to the Hale Kula Ni'ihau O Kehaha School to meet Hokulani Cleeland and all the children there learning their native language and cultural practices! What a blessing it is to discover native languages and a real celebration of heritage being taught to kids in their own communities!

Our filming day actually started at 5am, when we met Reggie Manaku, Ikaika Manaku & Roberto Garcia by the beach to dig an authentic IMO or fire pit. Once we returned from our journey around the island of Kauai, we got together with Chef Edwin Mizuno to prepare some fantastic Hawaiian recipes and then enjoyed live music from Joyce Okinaka & Kahalau Leoiki with Hula dancers Moana Henriques, Kristyn Ishibashi & Kimberly Tada.

We have to thank Chef Todd Oldham, Sheraton-Kauai and of course Hawaiian Airlines for helping us bring these colorful Hawaiian stories of paradise found!

Kauai is everything you could possible imagine and more! You can smell the ocean air in the mountains and feel the mountain waterfalls all the way to the beaches. The people in Hawaii and Kauai are warm and friendly, and the rich tropical soil brings so much flavor to all the organic and bio-dynamic foods being cultivated and served there.

The thing about Kauai is that it always reminds you to stop, smile and breath in the perfect beauty that completely surrounds and engulfs you.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

With all the crazy conflicts going on in the world today, despite the onset of the Olympic Games that are supposed to cause at least a temporary truce from fighting, we found an interesting story about Alien worlds being able to tune into our television broadcasts as a hopeful way to find true perspective on things.

Apparently a British TV company and social networking internet company have teamed up to start broadcasting messages into deep space.

It's been widely postulated for many years that all of our television, radio and short-wave communications have a potential of continuing out into space, perhaps to be picked up by intelligent life on another planet many hundreds of light years away.

Of course with the theory of relativity and how long sometimes it takes to get a signal from one light year to another, they estimate that some of the first television broadcasts ever put out will now just be reaching certain key audiences on alien worlds. Of course we can't quite measure the demographics of these emerging television eyeballs, (or even how many eyeballs each creature on a given planet might have), but needless to say we're very excited about the prospect of having Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet reaching Polaris in the near future, and planet Nebulon shortly thereafter.

For the first few years the aliens tuning in will only get a few channels of content, and just like their human counterparts, it will take them a while to get the full range of programming and channels (also depending on if they go for the deluxe cable package that includes movies). But at least we can take some comfort in the fact that our little green and purple friends across the ocean of space and time in distant galaxies will be able to tune into our shows, to give them at least a choice from the reality programs and crime shows our TV screens are currently cluttered with.

All kidding aside, when we allow ourselves to take a step back and see the earth from far out in space - a tiny blue dot through the rings of Saturn, no bigger than a pixel wide...this should give pause to how precious and miraculous are lives are and that we have to strive for PEACE on earth.

Signing off from planet Xeron,Meep, Gleep, and Bareep!Peace, Love and Organics,Your Hippy Gourmet Family

It's true, people either forget they have food in their fridge that needs to be prepared and eaten, or the containers of prepared foods get pushed back to the fringes of the fridge, only to be summarily discarded as they go bad.

There are some really good tips in this article on how to buy what you need at the market, vs. buying too much perishable ingredients without a real cooking plan for the week ahead.

We also recommend when dining out, don't be shy to ask for a to-go box to bring those tasty left-overs home with you. The restaurant is only going to scrape the remnants of your plate into the dumpster (which then goes into a landfill and adds to global warming and pollution). Rather, the next day for lunch or a light snack before dinner, you can simply re-heat your restaurant left-overs and enjoy the experience of dining out all over again.

One of the main tenants of our TV series also is never to waste molecules! When you cook rice, or potatoes or even a tomato sauce, take a wood spoon or spatula and go ahead and scrape every last molecule into the bowl. You'd be so surprised how much good nutrition gets wasted each year by the little pieces that don't get scraped out of the bowl...not to mention how much of the flavor is contained in all of those hard to reach food molecules!

So remember don't throw food away, find creative ways to preserve, plan ahead for healthy meals by portion size, freeze and date the things you want to have much later, and always ask for a to-go box when dining out and edible things are still available to eat later.

Friday, August 08, 2008

This is a wonderful recipe segment taken from our visit to Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco, California. Here we meet up with Prep Chef Vinicio who shows us how to prepare a delicious vegan/raw coconut soup!

Cafe Gratitude is an awe inspiring vegan restaurant chain founded on the premise of pure abundance that surrounds all of us. The cafes were initially started as a place where people could play the "Abounding River" board game, that teaches people how much good and positive there is in the world to be thankful for. As the people began to come in to the cafe to play the game, Terces and Mathew Engelhart (Cafe Gratitudes founders) decided to introduce tasty vegan and raw items on their menu.

After just a few years in operation, Cafe Gratitude has expanded to four locations around the Bay Area of San Francisco, with more locations around Los Angeles and the rest of the country planned to open soon. The Cafe Gratitude experience extends from their main kitchens (where this segment is filmed), through all the loving attention that each team member and chef puts into their recipes, all the way to the patrons who frequent each cafe and to the abundant plates that satisfy their greatest appetites.

Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet is proud to have the opportunity to film the folks at Cafe Gratitude in action and to do our part to help spread their messages of abundant joy!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Apparently, Russel Simmons dined at a KFC up in Canada this week after discovering that KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) introduced a new vegan menu item to their Canadian restaurants.

This is a great article not only because of its hopeful nature that fast-food chains may actually be moving in the right direction regarding healthier, animal-free food choices, but also because it raises a lot of great questions about who can really afford to eat better in our society.

There's no doubt in our minds that we have a bright and beautiful future ahead of us on planet earth, so long as we can get more and more people to use their wallets, stomachs and free-will to support smarter eating choices.

When KFC changes their name to KVC (Kentucky Vegan Choices), we will be the first ones on line to film their story and to order a real happy meal!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Our apologies for the brief lag in our blog posts, but we've been on the road traveling across the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. scoping out some exciting new locations to film new episodes of our show!

The new season of Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet is historic, it is our 10th anniversary of producing shows and our 10th season of broadcasting the series on TV.

This season, in addition to some fantastic trips around the world, we plan on traveling the U.S. a lot more, discovering organic, sustainable, bio-dynamic family farms and regional chefs who bring these flavors to life.

We invite you to participate in our scouting process, if you know of a great chef in your area who is working with organic ingredients, a wonderful local family farm that deserves a great feature on TV, or perhaps a colorful inventor in your neighborhood who is developing some type of exciting sustainable technology, please do let us know!

Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet is really just a mosaic of beautiful people telling their stories around the world, and we look forward to the next 10 years of filming and sharing these stories!